At the conclusion of week two, there are now seven starting quarterbacks who are going to or have been missing time with injuries.
This includes Kyler Murray, Michael Penix, Caleb Williams, and Jayden Daniels.
Roger Goodell decided to continue his social justice stand this year by painting “End Racism” in the back of the end zones again, but he can’t even prevent the systemic racism in the league from wiping out his black quarterbacks.
It sounds preposterous, but it will probably be a topic of discussion on ESPN this week.
I tuned into the Monday Night Football game just long enough to see Jaxson Dart get injured for the Giants, and promptly tuned right back out.
One of the downsides of the league pushing offense and tailoring things to quarterbacks so heavily is that when they get injured, the desire to watch their games absolutely plummets. And the numbers don’t lie.
The major disparity around the league has been between the haves and have-nots when it comes to those rostering a franchise quarterback. There aren’t 32 human beings on earth who can play quarterback at an elite level in the National Football League, and when the ones who can are getting injured en masse at the beginning of the season, it creates a substantially less watchable product.
Thursday Night Football will now feature Michael Penix Jr. starting for the Falcons against the Packers in his first game back after tearing his ACL in week 11 of last season, and Monday Night Football will likely showcase Tyson Bagent under center for the Bears against the Eagles.
Sure, there’s always a chance that somebody steps in and becomes the next Tom Brady. That chance is about one in a billion, but sure, there’s a chance. In the meantime it will produce a lot of lopsided games that end up being stuck in national broadcast and primetime windows.
Sunday Ticket is a huge revenue driver for the league, but it also inhibits them from adapting to these changes on the fly. College Football has every game available on network, cable or ESPN streaming, and will always have the week’s best matchup on national TV.
SATURDAY CAN'T COME SOON ENOUGH 🍿
For the first time since Dec. 1, 2023, there will be SIX AP-ranked games on the same day 🤯🔥 pic.twitter.com/Jzk9DaXUSh
This Saturday, there are six AP-ranked games, the first time it’s happened since 2023. Networks being able to adjust which games are on which windows also gives them an advantage over the NFL. The NFL has the “flex” system to replace bad primetime matchups with better ones, but it’s rarely used and creates more headaches for fans who have already made travel arrangements to see games.
Expect Roger Goodell to introduce a few more rule changes to protect his cash-cow-quarterbacks even further.
The 2026 NFL season kicks off tonight with a rematch of February’s Super Bowl. The Seahawks unveil their second banner while the New England Patriots visit. We’ll see the debut of A.J. Brown in a Patriots uniform, and Mike Vrabel’s first regular season game coaching since his six year affair with The Athletic’s NFL Insider Dianna Russini was exposed this spring.
The Seahawks should enjoy the ceremony this evening, as Washington has adopted a new “Millionaires Tax,” charging a 9.9% rate to all earnings over $1 million. This will effectively give them 5-7% less cap space per year, depending on their road schedule. It doesn’t take effect until 2028, but it is going to be a consideration every player and agent makes when they sit down to sign a contract in Seattle. This will also be their first game since announcing new ownership. And it’s not very promising either, Vinod Khosla talked lavishly about being a diehard Steelers fan and still watching every one of their games in his introductory presser.
The NFL used to be a way of life for me. I knew nearly every rostered player, would study mock drafts and prospects for months in the spring, knew every coach and most of the coordinators. A lot of that luster has faded. If I had to sum up the reason why, I’d simply say, Roger Goodell. He has been a poor steward of the game in my estimation. I’ll happily dive into that topic another day, but a perfect example is him fining running backs for lowering their shoulder and delivering contact to a defender.
While the NFL isn’t the draw for me it once was, I still like to follow the sport, and in particular like to follow teams with interesting storylines, exciting players, or just straight up trainwrecks I can’t look away from. Teams that actually make the game fun. Matchups, announce crews, broadcast windows all play a factor in whether I tune in or not, but a major factor is whether the teams are actually enjoyable to watch. So without further ado, here is the official 2026 Football Fun Index.
Honorable Mentions
Las Vegas Raiders
In my Pro-Am Triple Crown article, the Raiders were described as a potentially ascendant team with a possible franchise quarterback to be, first overall pick, Heisman trophy winner and National Champion, Fernando Mendoza. But he’s only a part of why they make the list. New acquisitions in free agency, highly talented returning players in Brock Bowers, Maxx Crosby and Ashton Jeanty, and Super Bowl winning offensive coordinator from the Seahawks, Klint Kubiak, in as a first year Head Coach. Also, Kirk Cousins starting the season under center. The new building in Vegas hasn’t played host to a relevant Raiders team yet, and this could have the foundations of getting there in the next few years.
Pittsburgh Steelers
This is it for Aaron Rodgers, back for one more rodeo along with his former Packers Super Bowl winning coach Mike McCarthy, he takes over after Mike Tomlin stepped down at the end of a 19 year run that saw him win a Super Bowl and never once post a losing season.
Rodgers has a talented defense, some new pieces on offense in Michael Pittman Jr., Rico Dowdle and rookie second-rounder Germie Bernard, and has been all smiles since the Anthony Fauci Covid Chronicles were released and the beleaguered former NIAID director invoked the fifth amendment 111 times in a Senate hearing, even though Joe Biden had already handed him a preemptive pardon.
Buffalo Bills
A new stadium, a new head coach, and an old familiar curse. Coach Joe Brady steps into the head coaching role after two and a half seasons as the play-caller for the Bills with the most pressure of any new coach in the league. It’s super bowl or bust for Buffalo, and with a roster that isn’t at the caliber of the other top NFL teams, and an opening five game slate that includes Houston, Detroit, LA Chargers, New England and LA Rams, the Bills could be in a tough position heading into their sixth game in Las Vegas.
But they return Josh Allen two years removed from an MVP season, a true X receiver in DJ Moore, Bradley Chubb and TJ Parker on the edge on defense, and plenty of reason for optimism. I will say, as a Bills fan, their games are only fun when they’re winning. With a tough schedule and little room for error, that could break either way early.
Now onto the top five:
5. New York Giants
This pick may surprise people, but the pieces are in place for something special to begin. First year Head Coach John Harbaugh takes over in New Jersey after 18 years at the helm in Baltimore. Including a super bowl title during that reign. Second year QB Jaxson Dart, fresh off his introduction of the President of the United States that humorously caused a media meltdown, and a brain dead response from teammate Abdul Carter, they have some serious weapons on both sides of the ball. Along with Carter, the pass rush looks stout with Kayvon Thibodeaux and Brian Burns, and as a group they’re probably the best set of edge rushers any team in the league can put on the field. I also think they drafted the best player in the rookie class in Arvell Reese all the way down at number 5 overall. Reese played all linebacker positions for the Buckeyes and has too much athleticism and instinct to not produce on sundays. They also drafted Francis Mauigoa at tackle from the U at number 10. They get elite WR Malik Nabers back from an ACL, and football maniac Cam Skattebo back from a dislocated ankle, fractured fibula and torn deltoid ligament suffered in Week 8 against Philadelphia. How effective they’ll be this year post injury remains to be seen, and they still have the turf of doom that causes so many of these injuries to play on.
4. Detroit Lions
As long as the o-line holds up, I’m calling the Lions being back. Too much talent, too much pride, and too much grit to stay down. Dan Campbell should have his team back in the hunt. I look forward to their games, have plenty of favorites in their roster (Penei Sewell, Aidan Hutchinson, Sam LaPorta, Jack Campbell), and giving them back their underdog status could produce the chip on their shoulder needed to take the next step.
3. Los Angeles Chargers
I love Jim Harbaugh. He’s a football psychopath. It was just a matter of time before he corrected the ship after being hired back to the league from Michigan. There are serious pieces there, and the added dynamic of bringing in Mike McDaniel, the anti-Harbaugh as a head coach, as Offensive Coordinator could give them an explosive and dynamic point-scoring machine they haven’t had under Harbaugh’s current regime. Looking forward to how their season plays out.
2. Chicago Bears
Da Bears are back. Will they compete for a Super Bowl? I highly doubt it. Ben Johnson is the best young coach in the league, and he gets to show off what year two in his program looks like. Caleb Williams has been appearing in public with a more masculine look, and even showing up sans nail polish, so you better believe the NFC North has been put on notice. This team won seven games last year after trailing inside the final two minutes. Plenty of weapons on offense in Rome Odunze, Luther Burden III, Colston Loveland, Cole Kmet and D’Andre Swift, but a defense that got gutted this offseason, losing Tremaine Edmunds, Kevin Byard, Jaquan Brisker and C.J. Gardner-Johnson. While the Bears have a lot of positives, questions about that defense keep them from the top spot. There’s also the fact that DJ Moore is now in Buffalo, so Odunze will have to step into a larger role.
I have been a Rams hater for a while. In my opinion, they appeared to have been gifted the Super Bowl against Cincinnati with endless last drive penalties until they finally got the game winning score. The conspiracy portion of my brain (essentially the whole thing), thought they did so because the Super Bowl was in LA, the Rams had moved back there and weren’t gaining traction, and in crowning them the fairweather fans of the region could hop on board.
Something else that gave me a sour taste was Matt Stafford’s wife going on a podcast to brag about running around with Matt’s backup quarterback at Georgia to make him jealous. Yuck.
On top of that, when Amazon secured Thursday Night Football in a landmark deal with the league, they offered the color commentary position to Sean McVay, who was at the time considering stepping aside from coaching. Instead the position went to my least favorite announcer on earth Kirk Herbstreit. Now Americans are forced to endure his commentary for both the Thursday night game, and the ABC primetime college football game on Saturday, as well as his presence on College Gameday if they’re so inclined to watch that. Personally, I’m more of a Big Noon Kickoff guy myself. Brady Quinn, Matt Leinart and Joel Klatt clear the Gameday crew, even though I love the addition of Nick Saban. McVay could have saved us from Herbstreit, and for that I held a grudge.
But the time to bury the hatchet has come, in spite of Herbie, I’m glad that McVay, who is a brilliant football mind, is still coaching in the league. And the addition of Myles Garrett and the return of Aaron Donald, and cornerback Trent McDuffie have their defense looking nicey. We can’t forget Puka Nacua, who is coming off an all time offseason where he appeared to be inebriated at a UFC card this spring, was sued over an alleged biting incident and an alleged antisemitic remark, entered rehab, and is out in time to rejoin the Super Bowl favorites.
It’s clear I’ve had my issues with this team in the past, but things change. There’s no question they will be the team to watch this year. Their owner Stan Kroenke also just liberated the baseball world from Arte Moreno’s disastrous 23 year tenure as owner of the Angels, and if the Rams can keep the Chiefs, Ravens or Eagles from winning it all, isn’t that a good thing?
The Rams are must see TV, they take the top spot on this year’s index, and they start their quest for the Lombardi tomorrow night in Melbourne against the 49ers.
I’ll have my eye on all of these teams as the season gets underway.
My Super Bowl Prediction:
Lions over Bills
Bills finally get back to the big game, and a curse is at long last ended, but in ironic fashion that only Bills Mafia can truly appreciate, the curse that is broken belongs to their opponent, and the Lions grab their first ever Lombardi trophy.
The Pro-Am Triple Crown is a stat I have been unofficially tracking in my football observing life for decades. It’s an incredibly rare achievement. The feat requires winning the Heisman Trophy, the National Championship, and then being selected first overall in the spring draft that follows.
To date there have been only five players to achieve this. Three of them within the last 15 years.
Cam Newton went 14-0 at Auburn in 2010, took the Heisman, beat Oregon for the BCS title, and went first overall to Carolina that April. Joe Burrow’s 2019 at LSU is the best season a quarterback has ever put on tape — 5,671 yards, 60 touchdown passes, 15-0, and a Heisman margin so wide it broke O.J. Simpson’s 1968 record. Cincinnati took him first the next spring. The passing game coordinator who built the juggernaut offense around him was Joe Brady, current head coach of the Buffalo Bills. Burrow was also the first LSU player to win the Heisman in sixty years. The third player to complete the trifecta this century is Fernando Mendoza, and we’ll get to him.
Which brings me to the other two, both from my beloved Fighting Irish.
Angelo Bertelli won the Heisman for Notre Dame in 1943 in six games. The Marines called him up after the Navy game in late October and his college career was over. The Irish won the national title anyway and the Boston Yanks took him first overall in 1944. He never played a down in the NFL. He deployed to Iwo Jima instead.
Six years later Leon Hart did it again for Frank Leahy. Undefeated 1949, consensus national champion, Heisman and Maxwell winner, first overall to Detroit in 1950. He’s still the last lineman to win the Heisman. Notre Dame has two of the five and both of the historical ones. Nobody else has more than one.
There have been a few players in recent years that hit all three objectives but did so over the course of multiple seasons. Jameis Winston won the Heisman and the title in the same year at Florida State in 2013 as a redshirt freshman, then played another season before entering the draft in 2015 to go first overall. O.J. Simpson has all three pieces — the 1967 title at USC in his first year on campus, the 1968 Heisman, first overall to Buffalo in 1969. Billy Cannon won LSU’s title in 1958 as a junior, took the 1959 Heisman, and went first overall to the Rams in 1960. And Ernie Davis was a sophomore on Syracuse’s 1959 championship team, led them in rushing and won Cotton Bowl MVP, then took the Heisman in 1961 as the first black player to win it and went first overall in 1962. Like Bertelli, he never played a professional down. Leukemia took him at just twenty-three years old.
Bryce Young has the three honors over multiple years, but my criteria requires being a starter at their position in the national championship season. He threw for 156 yards the entire 2020 season behind Mac Jones. Vinny Testaverde is out by the same rule — he redshirted in 1983 while Bernie Kosar won Miami a championship.
Bo Jackson is the one worth arguing about. Auburn went 11-1 in 1983 and beat Michigan in the Sugar Bowl playing the hardest schedule in the country. Miami vaulted from fifth to first after the Orange Bowl and took the AP, UPI, FWAA and coaches titles. Auburn got named champion by the New York Times computer poll, Billingsley, the CFRA and a few others, and Auburn now officially claims it. Pat Dye said his team would wear New York Times rings. So Bo has a Heisman, a first overall pick, and a national title that exists entirely at the discretion of whichever selector you feel like trusting. He also never signed with Tampa Bay.
And there’s a much longer list of players who have hit two-out-of-three. Baker Mayfield won the Heisman at Oklahoma in 2017 and went first overall to Cleveland in 2018, but Georgia bounced the Sooners in the Rose Bowl semifinal. Caleb Williams took it at USC in 2022 and went first overall to Chicago in 2024 — no title, and two years between the trophy and the pick. Carson Palmer won the 2002 Heisman and went first to Cincinnati in 2003 while Ohio State won the championship and USC finished fourth. Kyler Murray, Heisman at Oklahoma in 2018, first overall to Arizona in 2019, nothing else. Earl Campbell won the 1977 Heisman at Texas and went first to Houston in 1978, and it was Notre Dame that beat the Longhorns in the Cotton Bowl and took the title. Trevor Lawrence gets there from the other direction — title as a true freshman starter at Clemson in 2018, first overall to Jacksonville in 2021, but no Heisman. He finished second to DeVonta Smith in 2020.
And then there’s the reverse case: Johnny Lujack won the Heisman on Notre Dame’s undefeated 1947 championship team and missed the whole thing by three draft slots, because the Bears had already spent the fourth overall pick on him the year before.
The newest member to this exclusive club is Fernando Mendoza, fresh off one of the most incredible seasons in College Football history. A true Cinderella story, something that would have seemed only possible in a video game just three years ago. I know, because I saw Indiana play in person three years ago and the idea they were less than two years away from a Natty then is mind-blowing.
Mendoza is an interesting case, the jury is out on if he truly possesses what it takes to be a franchise quarterback in the NFL. The truth is, I’m not sure. Both sides make salient points in their arguments. What he becomes at the pro level remains to be seen. What I do know is that because of his personality, I will be rooting for him to succeed. He’s been clowned on for his overly kind and professional disposition in interviews and for his answers getting him the nickname ChatGPT. During his appearance on Monday Night Football in the preseason this year he referred to play-by-play man Joe Buck as Mr. Buck. I love the contrast this gives to Raider Nation. The Raiders have also been making moves that make the team more competitive, and dare I say more watchable.
“He is a bad dude, man. He’s what the Raiders need.” — Jon Gruden
Which leads me to a quick sidebar: I do this insane thing as a sports fan, I hope for teams, that I don’t hate, to become fun to watch. Sports are the ultimate content, and they should be enjoyable to follow. Sure, when it’s your team it’s a whole different vibe, but the rest of the games, I want to actually have the desire to tune in and be entertained. It helps when you’re watching great ensembles that honor the game by playing it with a high-level of execution, situational awareness and discipline. Sloppy football is not good content. I’ll cover which teams I think are going to be the most “fun” to watch this season in a future post. With a few teams to be included that may surprise you.
This offseason the Raiders added Mendoza, Tyler Linderbaum, my favorite center. Yes, I have a favorite center. He’s a monster in the middle from Iowa by way of the Ravens that should be a huge contributor to Mendoza’s odds of sticking around. They gave him three years and $81 million, which makes him the highest-paid interior offensive lineman in football. They tried to trade Maxx Crosby — and by tried I mean the deal was done, two first-round picks from Baltimore, before the Ravens failed him on a physical and walked away from it. They also signed linebackers Quay Walker and Nakobe Dean, edge rusher Kwity Paye, receiver Jalen Nailor, and Kirk Cousins on a one-year deal. They also welcome in a new head coach too, Klint Kubiak from Seattle, taking over a team that went 3-14. It looks like the Tom Brady Era in Las Vegas has officially begun.
My hope for the Raiders is they lose enough games to snag a top-five pick and land Jeremiah Smith, the Ohio State WR that is the best prospect at the position in years, drawing comparisons physically to Calvin Johnson. But with Kirk Cousins at the helm and an improved roster, that may be difficult for them to pull off. A big time receiver and a fortified offensive line would help Mendoza’s chances once he gets put into the fray.
And I don’t think they should rush it, letting him sit behind Cousins for the vast majority of the season and ending the year with 3-4 starts could be a much better way to bring him along than feeding him to the wolves right out of the gate the way franchises often do with top QB’s now.
The exclusivity of Mendoza’s accomplishment should be applauded, he has entered rarified air. And his attitude and disposition make it easy to do so.
This College Football season has a few potential contenders who could actually pull the Triple Crown off. Arch Manning at Texas, Julian Sayin at Ohio State, Dante Moore at Oregon, and my personal favorite, CJ Carr at Notre Dame — who opened as the betting favorite for the Heisman, for whatever that’s worth in August.
The Buffalo Bills opened their new stadium to season ticket holders on Saturday night for the Return of the Blue and Red Scrimmage.
“The Buffalo Bills welcomed 51,807 fans to the 2026 Return of Blue & Red.” — Buffalo Bills
The new stadium has continued to be the talk of Bills Twitter two days after the game, the main point of contention being obstructed view seats and smaller than expected video screens. As well as less than appetizing food offerings.
Cheese Pizza Review: new Highmark Stadium (literally first thing I saw and no line to grab) pic.twitter.com/m5FwpdcOQU
— Patrick Moran (Talking Buffalo) (@PatrickMoranTB) August 8, 2026
I’ve been following the construction of the stadium from the initial rendering released to the public. I have a few thoughts.
First, people complaining about the $2.2 billion price tag. $250 million from Erie County, $600 million from New York State, and Terry Pegula responsible for every dollar of the overruns. Those complaining about the public funds being used, I want to say I hear you, but this is New York state we’re talking about. Literally all they do is piss away taxpayer funds, for the most part it’s on things that offer me little to no utility. This stadium is not that. This is one of the best decisions Kathy Hochul has made as Governor. I know that’s not saying much, but I stand behind it.
Second, remember the American sports stadium dark ages? The era of multi-purpose stadiums. Where NFL and MLB teams shared venues, and the baseball games were played on astro turf or in stadiums with literally no view beyond the outfield? And the first half of the football season for teams like the Raiders and Dolphins were played with baseball infield dirt in the playing field? We survived that hellish period, it’s initial downfall marked by the construction of Camden Yards, and we entered a golden age of original ballparks with Oracle Park, PNC Park, Busch Stadium all being built after that. Buffalo’s new stadium is unique, which itself is becoming a rarity.
The NFL is now entering a new age of cookie cutter stadiums, we’re losing the tradition of football being played outside in the elements on grass. The Raiders, Falcons, Rams have all built impressive new enclosed stadiums in recent years, and the spectacle of Jerry World in Arlington still looms large, but with new stadium developments in Nashville, Kansas City, Chicago by way of Hammond, Indiana, Denver, and Cleveland, (Jacksonville is currently in the midst of a drastic remodel that will see a canopy added to the stadium while keeping it technically al fresco) nearly all of these stadiums will look like some xerox version of Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
Team owners and cities are focused on a few key factors with a new stadium — a new place to host games that drives revenue to the area, to have an enclosed roof for the opportunity to host a future Super Bowl, and other major events, like Taylor Swift concerts, WrestleMania, the Final Four, etcetera, and they want to keep the team in the area for decades to come by getting them to sign a lease for the new digs.
While the obstructed view seats are a bit baffling to see in a brand new 2026 state-of-the-art facility, what the Bills got right is they stayed outdoors, they moved to a natural grass surface, and they created an environment that will be extremely loud. All of which play to their strengths, and in terms of being outdoors on natural grass, those are aspects that have been going extinct in this new wave of stadium construction.
I will not stand for the slander of the new stadium. I went on a dive using a view from my seat. Most modern nfl stadiums have some obstructed view seats. Here are some of the worst offenders I’ve found. I’m sure there’s more. #billsmafiapic.twitter.com/eG6sft1ehN
The architect, Populous, has designed the majority of new stadium builds, and the inspiration for this one is born from European football, the design moves the spectators closer to the field and rids the surface area around the field of wasted space. The bowl is modeled in part on Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, where the geometry traps the crowd noise and compresses it back down toward the field, and the upper deck here is reportedly the closest to the field in the league. These positives are deserving of praise and feel like a natural fit for Buffalo’s team.
But even in the initial renderings, man those video boards looked small.
Video boards inside the new Highmark Stadium are pretty underwhelming
Now factor in teams using half their video screens for scoreboard and stats displays— My hope is, atleast for key replays, they project the action across the entire board, or as fans have already dubbed it, the MiniTron.
Finally, and most importantly, this new stadium keeps the Bills in Buffalo on a 30-year lease.
I’ll reserve judgment on the execution of the new stadium until I see it for myself. I think the knee-jerk reaction from many Bills fans comes from our conditioning as almost getting things right time and time again.
Being the almost franchise for decades can have a traumatic effect on people. Mafia life isn’t for everyone.
In my article last week, The Player-Announcer Paradox, I examined the often divergent relationship between liking a player on the field, and liking him when he moves into the broadcast booth. It was heavily focused on Tony Romo in the aftermath of his DUI, a first offense that in Wisconsin isn’t even technically a crime — it’s a civil forfeiture. Now there’s no excuse for Tony Romo to be drinking and driving, but this was miles away from a scandal in NFL terms.
Romo has already been suspended by the network, and CBS intends to use this as a pretext for replacing Romo from the A-side of their broadcast lineup with J.J. Watt, at least temporarily. Watt boasts a much more “aw shucks” corporate friendly persona. A move that the network may have already been itching to make.
“It’s possible CBS Sports uses Romo’s slip-up as an excuse to move on” — Pro Football Network
The record-setting contract Romo signed in 2020 also appears to be part of the calculus for the move. The high-value deal made headlines at the time, but has since been dwarfed by contracts that followed it, including the $375m mega deal signed by Tom Brady to join Fox’s top-pairing Sunday broadcast.
“He squeezed them for every nickel” — Colin Cowherd on Romo’s 2020 negotiation, via Fox News
Romo has four years and $72 million left on that deal, and it’s left a sour taste in CBS’ mouth ever since. They could attempt to use a morality clause in the terms of the agreement to void the remaining salary.
“the worst contract in media history” — a top sports media executive on Romo’s deal, via Andrew Marchand of The Athletic Pro Football Network
The upside is that Tony Romo as a free agent with nothing to lose would once again be able to impart his actual football wisdom, something that has been greatly missing since CBS called for him to tone down his color commentary style.
It is nevertheless still shocking to see things play out this way. A non-incidental, first offense DUI is now a reason to end a man’s sports broadcasting career? I grew up in a time when it would to take perverted sexual fetishes to do such a thing.
Tony Romo photo by Keith Allison, via Wikimedia Commons. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
Tony Romo was arrested for allegedly driving drunk in Milwaukee. I’m not going to go for any of the low hanging fruit like, “Man, how drunk do you have to be to get a DUI in Wisconsin?”
“The repercussions from Tony Romo’s DUI arrest are just beginning.” — New York Post
I’m not here to kick a man when he’s down. Something this did bring to mind is what I call the Player-to-Announcer Paradox.
I couldn’t stand Tony Romo as a player. When he fumbled the snap on the game-winning field goal attempt in the playoff game against Seattle, I was as happy as anyone else in the world. We watched the replay again and again.
Then he retired, went into the booth for CBS and became one of my all-time favorite color commentary guys.
He exhibited a wealth of knowledge on X’s and O’s, situational football, what the coach and quarterback were thinking, and he was predicting things with mystical precision. Then the normies watching got upset. They felt he was “ruining” the surprise of seeing what was to come. I felt like I was sitting next to a football oracle and loving it.
Now Tony Romo is paid $17 million a yearnot to do the thing he is uniquely capable of doing. He was neutered, and now people complain that his commentary is too vanilla, boring and corny. They won’t be happy either way.
Let Romo Romo. Let his fans, the self-described Romosexuals, enjoy his predictive and insightful commentary again.
But Romo isn’t the only example of the Player-to-Announcer Paradox. This seems to be more the rule than a rarity.
I loved watching LaDainian Tomlinson play, but I’m not much of a fan of him on the mic. Also, how ridiculous was it that he went by L.T.? There is only one L.T. Pick a different nickname.
I hated J.J. Watt. I got tired of the annual injuries, the “look how hard I’m working” offseason videos, and then ring chasing by going to the Cardinals of all teams. But in the booth? I love him. He comes across as authentic, knowledgeable and humorous.
Tom Brady was one of my favorite players ever. As an announcer, I think he’s become decent, but he still doesn’t seem truly comfortable. The cringe-core energy he’s giving out in the rest of his endeavors probably isn’t helping matters either. But nobody is getting pulled over for driving-while-alkalized.
I never saw Cris Collinsworth play, but I can confidently tell you I can’t stand him in the booth. The concept has caught on, and the “Patrick Mahomes” shoehorned references by him have become their own meme.
I’d probably still take ol’ Collinsworth over Kirk Herbstreit though. Being forced into a double-dose of Herbie on Thursday Night Football, and then Saturday night’s biggest college football game on ABC usually has me opting for TNF highlights on YouTube Friday morning instead of the Amazon broadcast.
It’s a weird phenomenon. Some of the guys I loved as players I don’t enjoy listening to. Some of the guys I couldn’t stand on Sundays become some of my favorite voices once they retire.
They’re two completely different roles.
The greatest color commentator alive is blackballed from the league and currently working for Barstool Sports. Mr. Jon Gruden. A Gruden comeback is a statistical impossibility due to his ongoing lawsuit against the NFL that he refuses to settle.
While I’d love to see Gruden burn Goodell’s reign of terror to the ground, I’d probably settle for the real Tony Romo being given his voice back.
